Interviews by Jennifer Ortega and Rachel Greninger, Red Carpet Report Reporters follow Jen on Twitter @JenniferEOrtega and Rachel on Twitter @RachelonTV
Red Carpet Reporter, Rachel Greninger and I, recently headed over to the Red Bull Media Center to cover part 2 of our MindGamers coverage.
MindGamers premieres March 28th
The film stars Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Tom Payne (The Walking Dead), Oliver Stark (Into the Badlands) and Melia Kreiling (Tyrant). It is a Sci-Fi thriller taking place at an academy for the extremely gifted. The students create a wireless neural network, connecting their minds through a quantum computer. The computer is able to transfer skills and knowledge to the brains of the users. It is the first human shareware. While their intentions are pure and an attempt to spread intellect and motor-skills, they soon find them in harm’s way.
Red Bull has teamed with scientists, Tim Mullen and Mikey Spiegel, to create an experiment of their own to correspond with the opening of Mindgamers. On March 28th, 500 people in New York and 500 people in Los Angles with be equipped with headbands while they watch the film. These headbands will monitor their brainwaves. They are doing this to compare viewers reactions to the film.
Rachel and I got to participate in a demo of the experiment. While at Red Bull, they placed the headbands on us while we watched clips of the film. It was definitely interesting and unlike any other press event I have been to. It’s completely painless. Basically, little stickers are placed on your head. While we watched the film, they were able to pull up graphs and charts on our reactions.
After the demo we were able to talk to Tom Payne, Oliver Stark and Antonia Campbell-Hughes about the film.
What was your viewing experience of the film?
Tom Payne: I’ve watched the movie twice now and the second time I was in a different place. The first time I was like, “Is that a really good film? I don’t know how to take it. Because it’s not linear like any other film that I’ve been in or read or watched. The context of what we’re doing with it, with the event….it’s like a workout for the mind. When you walk away from it you think about it and try to piece it together. The movie takes place over a certain amount of time. Does it take place over a few days or one second? That’s the idea that everything will happen simultaneously. Which completely blows your mind. The movie isn’t constructed in any typical way. And thats the purpose of it. There’s no beginning, middle or end.
What was it like working with Red Bull?
Tom Payne: Working with Red Bull has been the most unique experience in my professional career. They go, “That’s a great idea. We don’t know if it will work or not, but let’s throw a bunch of money at it and give it a go.” Which really never happens. On the set, there were times where I was, “Isn’t that going to cost a lot of money?” And they were like, “It’s fine.” Not that we went massively over budget, but the check and balances weren’t the same as if we were working with a traditional movie company. So that was really freeing and exciting. For Red Bull now to move into the realm of the human mind is really exciting.
How was your experience working on Mindgamers?
Antonia Campbell-Hughes: I think when we all came on board, it was quite unique from what we have done. There’s kind of a European approach to science and how integral that was. The educational aspect and how it is not just entertainment. We all knew that we had to be invested in the same way.
Oliver Stark: It wasn’t necessarily an easy film to make. The script itself isn’t linear and there were things we didn’t necessarily understand as we were moving through it. So it took a lot of trust in each other and of (director) Andrew Goth. It wasn’t smooth sailing all the time, but I think it helped us bond. We had better on screen chemistry because we bonded through our confusion. But we had Andrew Goth steering us in the right direction the whole time.
Can you tell us about your characters, Agnes and Dylan?
Antonia Campbell-Hughes: I always thought Agnes was quite interesting because I always saw her as timeless. She’s kind of young, but an old soul in her mid twenties. There’s a unique energy to her. We talked earlier how these characters are in an university type environment. They’re very driven by education and academia. She’s slightly different. I don’t think she has that same hunger or dive for competition. Her interest in science is an innate part of her. And there’s something very spiritual about that.
Oliver Stark: For me Dylan, actually Dylan and Agnes, are the only two characters whose motivations are completely universal. He loves people. Some of the characters are in it for themselves, but Dylan…there’s a lot of love there and that kind of reflects in everything. He’s pansexual and just loves people. So it was nice to connect to that.
About MindGamers
A group of brilliant young students discover the greatest scientific breakthrough of all time: a wireless neural network, connected via a quantum computer, capable of linking the minds of each and every one of us. They realise that quantum theory can be used to transfer motor-skills from one brain to another, a first shareware for human motor-skills. They freely spread this technology, believing it to be a first step towards a new equality and intellectual freedom. But they soon discover that they themselves are part of a much greater and more sinister experiment as dark forces emerge that threaten to subvert this
technology into a means of mass-control.
MindGamers takes the mind-bender thriller to the next level with an immersive narrative and breath-taking action. Visit the site at http://www.mindgamersmovie.com/
